This invention relates generally to document processing systems, and more particularly, to a system and method for processing business reply mail in an efficient manner to automatically interpret and act upon the information contained therein.
Paper-based or electronic documents are extensively used as media for providing information. The purpose of such information is manifold. Most typical purposes for the information are to inform a human reader or to cause a certain action or actions by the reader. If a computer is utilized to interpret paper-based or electronic documents, with the desire of having the computer execute one or more actions required by the document, the computer must be capable of performing at least two functions. First, the computer must be able to xe2x80x9creadxe2x80x9d the document, i.e., accept and manipulate the information presented in a computerized format. Second, the computer must be able to decide what action is required based on the information presented. The decision as to any actions required based on the information contained in the document requires computer interpretation of the data contained in the document.
With respect to reading the document, electronic documents typically already exist in a form manipulable by the computer. The task of converting paper-based documents into a computerized format, i.e., information that can be manipulated by a computer, involves scanning and character recognition operations. For either type of document, however, the task of interpretation of the information for the purpose of subsequent action is a difficult one since computers do not possess an intrinsic understanding of the purpose of the information. Many attempts to alleviate the task of interpretation have been proposed. For example, Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) techniques were created to include interpretation of the data contained in the document together with the data itself. Similarly, modern computer languages, inspired by the proliferation of network computing, e.g., the Internet and the World Wide Web, such as, for example, HTML and XML, are designed to enable standard representation and interpretation of data by computers.
In many applications, however, the interpretation of data in the document may depend on several conditions that could not be completely specified at the time when the document was created. In mailing applications, mail items are frequently sent by mailers to their intended recipients in order to require or solicit a payment or a purchase. For example, many companies and private concerns use business reply mail to solicit information and responses from the recipients of the business reply mail. As such, business reply mail has a wide variety of uses and is often customized depending upon the needs of the sender. A few examples of the uses for business reply mail are subscription solicitations, information request responses, proxy statement responses, remittance documents (invoices for payment due) and the like. In these cases, the mailer frequently includes a business reply envelope (BRE) or business courtesy envelope (BCE) and a reply form or slip that must be marked by the recipient before inserting it into BRE or BCE and mailing it back to the sender. Alternatively, the reply form could be integral with the BRE, such as, for example, a postcard or the like. Typically, the reply form is provided with a plurality of choices from which the recipient must select and mark the reply form to indicate the selection made. Thus, any computer interpretation of the reply form necessarily depends on where the form has been marked by the recipient. As such, it is not possible to use conventional data interpretation techniques.
In many instances, companies must utilize manual techniques for the interpretation of data when handling business reply mail and associated data entry. The result is a time consuming and costly process that is susceptible to human error. For example, in credit card or other payment remittance processing applications, bills are usually sent to payers by mail. A bill contains a form or slip and a BCE. The payer is typically provided with three options for payment: (i) payment in full, (ii) a minimum payment amount, or (iii) some other payment amount. The choices are presented on the slip in a written description together with a space for the payer to indicate, by marking with some type of mark such as, for example, a check mark, the desired selection. The payer is expected to write a check or include a credit card number on the slip (depending on the application) to execute actual transfer of funds from the payer""s account to the payee""s account. The payer normally inserts the marked slip and a check (if required) into the BCE and places the BCE into the mail stream for return to the sender-specified mailing address. Several days after the BCE is deposited in the mail stream, the BCE arrives at the sender-specified return address, where it is subjected to normal remittance processing. First, the BCEs are opened and the slips and checks are extracted. The checks and slips are scanned and sorted by specialized computer-driven equipment and totals are computed. The checks are then submitted to a financial institution for a clearing process where the effective transfer of funds takes place through the Federal Reserve Bank check clearing system.
Similarly, in many instances BREs are utilized in promotional mailings that offer prospective customers multiple choices in selecting merchandise offered by the party making the promotional mailing, e.g., a merchant. Promotional mail normally includes a form or slip and a BRE. Alternatively, of course, the form could be integral with the BRE, as in the case of a return postcard or the like. The recipients are requested to mark the form in an appropriate manner, should they desire to acquire the offered merchandise, insert the recipient-marked form into the BRE, and return the BRE to the mailer through the mail stream. Typically, the return mailing address is preprinted on the BRE. Several days after the BRE is deposited in the mail stream, the BRE is received back by the party making the promotional mailing. Upon receipt of the BRE, the merchant or its agent opens the BRE to extract the contents and subject the contents to a process similar to remittance processing, namely, forms are scanned, the scanned information is interpreted, and the information is sent for fulfillment to the appropriate warehouses or agents. Again, the process is time consuming and costly.
Other applications where automatic interpretation of documents is important include health-care and legal applications, particularly when original documents are paper-based and intended for both human and machine consumption.
In each of the situations described above, there are several shortfalls. For example, the entire process of returning and processing a BRE or BCE is costly and time consuming, and requires multiple redundant operations, including, for example, multiple quality control checks, scans and key entries, since errors must be eliminated as much as possible. The time delays associated with receiving and processing such documents can also have a negative financial impact on the sender of the bill or the promotional mailing, e.g., the merchant. For example, it is not until several days after the BRE or BCE is placed into the mail stream that the information from the BRE or BCE can be processed (after receipt by the merchant) and acted upon. Early interpretation and action upon the information on the form included with BRE or BCE could result in financial benefits to the merchant. For example, if a BRE or BCE containing payment or order information could be scanned and interpreted before they reach their ultimate destination address, it would provide for significantly expedited processing as well as processing cost reduction. Expedited processing can result in an earlier transfer of funds to the merchant, thus lowering costs for the merchant.
Therefore, there exists a need for improved systems capable of efficiently processing business reply mail to rapidly acquire the information that each reply mail piece contains and initiate appropriate follow up activity.
The present invention provides a reply mail processing system that allows information contained within business reply mail to be scanned and interpreted before the business reply mail reaches its ultimate destination, thereby significantly expedited processing as well as reducing processing cost of the business reply mail.
In accordance with the present invention, a machine-readable block of control information that instructs computer-driven actuators what to do with the business reply mail document itself, its digital image (or parts of thereof) and the data elements (interpreted as computerized codes, e.g., ASCII codes) contained in the document, based on selections made by the recipient, is provided on the business reply mail. A business reply mail processing system includes a scanner module and a control module, capable of interpreting the scanned data, in operative communication with the scanner module. A communication unit is in operative communication with the control module. Preferably, the reply mail processing system of the present invention will be installed at several mail processing stations, such as, for example, at mail induction centers where mail scanning and processing equipment is employed by postal operators and private carriers.
The machine-readable block of control information, referred to as machine-readable control information (MRCI), is created by the party that is sending the business reply mail, e.g. the mailer, such as, for example, a bank, brokerage house, merchant, etc., and imprinted or otherwise attached either to the business reply mail itself or to a business reply envelope (BRE or BCE) containing the slip or form intended to be completed by the recipient. The MRCI and areas for the recipient to indicate one or more selections are situated in such a manner that they can be scanned and automatically interpreted during all phases of the business reply mail life cycle. The MRCI can contain information related to one or more of the recipient, the sender, the content of the business reply mail and one or more sets of instructions associated with the selection areas intended for marking by the recipient. Optionally, the information may be encrypted. In general, the MRCI contains all necessary instructions for the processing agent, e.g., the postal service, to scan and forward information conditioned by a choice made by the recipient to the sender or the sender""s agent. This information enables the sender to automatically process actions requested by the recipient without additional human interaction.
According to the present invention, when the business reply mail piece is received by the postal operator or private carrier for induction into the mail stream, the MRCI and any selections made by the recipient are scanned by the scanner. The information is passed to the control module for interpretation. Based on the selection made by the recipient, the control module will perform the appropriate set of instructions included in the MRCI for processing the business reply mail piece. Appropriate data elements, obtained from the MRCI based on the recipient""s selections, can be electronically sent, via the communication unit, to the sender or the sender""s agent. Thus, the sender, or remittance processing agent of the sender, can receive all of the information, in computerized format, required for efficient processing of the business reply mail long before the physical mail item, i.e., the business reply mail piece, is received through the normal mail delivery process. This saves the cost of additional manual or automatic processing of the physical mail piece, as well as allowing for significant float benefits to the mailer (merchant) due to the reduced processing time, at almost no additional cost to the mailer or postal operator. The physical mail piece can be archived and retrieved, if necessary, to facilitate potential dispute resolution between mailers and recipients.
Therefore, it is now apparent that the present invention substantially overcomes the disadvantages associated with the prior art. Additional advantages of the invention will be set forth in the description that follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objects and advantages of the invention may be realized and obtained by means of the instrumentalities and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims.